H.J Ward Superman painting

[kingdom warrior]

Ok so I'm surfing the net looking at H.J Wards work. I'm a huge fan of his paintings and as an artist also looking for inspiration.

My fav painting of his is of course his legendary painting of Superman that use to hang in the DC offices and now resides in the Library of Lehman college in the Bronx here in NY.

Now I came across a very interesting picture of this very famous painting.
a black and white photo of it hanging in the offices of DC. Now for those of you who are fans of the painting you will notice right away as I did there is a big difference in the painting.

The Face and the chest emblem are totally different from the version that was used as the cover of the DC treasury edition.....

So to anyone who might have insight to the face change and emblem or anything about it...I'd like to know.

I'm posting the pic in it's original form and my blow up of it. Plus the Treasury edition for comparison....

I never knew about the changes in the painting.

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Cool find. The B&W one looks more realistic, especially in the crotch area.

[kingdom warrior]

Cool find. The B&W one looks more realistic, especially in the crotch area.

I didn't notice that Cat....LOL! yeah i think it does and Superman to me looks like Ronald Reagan....

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

^ Hey, I'm surprised I did...not somewhere I usually look .

[kingdom warrior]

^ Hey, I'm surprised I did...not somewhere I usually look .

LOL!!!!!!!!!

[Blue Meanie]

Spit curl is also different on his head...at first I thought it was reversed in the cover...but it's not. It's maybe 2 changes that I can tell...but the "S" is major. Interesting.

[kryptosmaster]

There was an article about this in a comic but for the life of me I can't recall which one. I was pretty sure it was that very same Treasury edition but I'm not positive. It was retouched/repainted at one point and the very changes you mentioned (and can see) were made.
If I'm not mistaken, it was also misplaced for awhile.
Rich

[kingdom warrior]

There was an article about this in a comic but for the life of me I can't recall which one. I was pretty sure it was that very same Treasury edition but I'm not positive. It was retouched/repainted at one point and the very changes you mentioned (and can see) were made.
If I'm not mistaken, it was also misplaced for awhile.
Rich

Yeah there was an article awhile ago about the painting missing here it is
The Mystery of the Missing Man of Steel - NYTimes.com

That I know. but I never knew that the painting wa re-touched that's a total new one on me. What i want to know is why was it retouched and did H.J ward do it himself or did someone else do it.

It is my favorite painting of Superman ever and to see that it actually had a different look to it was mind blowing for me.

[kingdom warrior]

Spit curl is also different on his head...at first I thought it was reversed in the cover...but it's not. It's maybe 2 changes that I can tell...but the "S" is major. Interesting.

Yeah and the face is different and the neck is shorter too.

[clemso]

I guess they alter this directly onto the painting

[Earth 2 Chris]

I've noticed that before myself. I wasn't sure if it was second painting or what, but the changes make sense. You can almost pinpoint when the changes were made too, since Superman's "S" is close, but not quite there. It's pretty much the classic Earth-2 look.

Chris

[WannabeMego]

Is it me or does the older painting look like Reagan....?

[kingdom warrior]

Is it me or does the older painting look like Reagan....?

That's what I said too! I think he's a dead ringer for President Reagan

[kingdom warrior]

I've noticed that before myself. I wasn't sure if it was second painting or what, but the changes make sense. You can almost pinpoint when the changes were made too, since Superman's "S" is close, but not quite there. It's pretty much the classic Earth-2 look.

Chris

It's a shame that the changes were probably made directly onto the painting.
It would have been incredible if there would have been two versions made.

[kingdom warrior]

The more i look at the painting the more I'm certain that Ward may have used
Reagan as reference for the painting here are two pics of young Reagan to compare to.